Italy's death count due to the Coronavirus pandemic is spiraling out of control and has surpassed China's death toll in just a matter of days. 4,032 people have lost their lives in Italy as on March 21 as compared to China's death toll of 3,255. Italians are living in fear and are taking all precautionary measures to keep the virus at bay, but unfortunately the number of positive cases are increasing and there's no signs of the virus slowing down anytime soon.
Italy's epidemic curve looks like a steep staircase with 47,021 people being tested positive and the never-ending line of people showing up at the hospital feeling sick and getting hospitalized due to the pandemic is creating havoc and wrecking the country's healthcare system which is already crumbling. There are not enough beds and medical supplies to carter to the patients and doctors are left with prioritizing one patient over the other.
Doctors in Italy get to choose who is going to survive and who is not
Lorenzo Casani, the Health Director of a clinic for the elderly people in Lombardy, told Time that there's a huge shortage of beds and medical supplies and doctors are getting to choose who is going to survive or not. "We do not have free beds in intensive care units,'' and added that doctors now "make this horrible choice and decide who is going to survive and who is not going to survive. Who is going to get a monitor, a respirator, and the attention they need."
Casani admitted that Italians were not prepared for the pandemic and took all precautionary measures lightly before it hit them hard. He revealed to Time that the country has a shortage of doctors and has no proper plan in place on how to deal with pandemics. "We were not prepared. We do not have enough doctors for the people. We do not have an organized plan for pandemics.''
